As the city of Netanya prepared for his arrival, the entire upper
echelons of Israel´s government were summoned to greet Russian
President Vladimir Putin with the greatest possible splendor and
warmth. All were waiting for Putin to come and dedicate the Red Army
Monument, a tribute to the Russian soldiers who fell in battle
against the Nazis.

Putin was 90 minutes late, which was not exceptional; he was also
late once for a meeting with the queen of England. The three planes
bringing the rest of his official delegation, which numbered some 350
people, arrived on time. The Israel Defense Forces orchestra,
meanwhile, was practicing a surprisingly accurate rendition of the
Russian national anthem.

Netanya municipal workers scurried about, putting the finishing
touches on everything. Nonetheless, Foreign Minister Avigdor
Lieberman still ended up sitting through the ceremony on a chair torn
in several places.

Minutes before the ceremony began, the two foreign ministers entered
one after another from the side. Lieberman looked satisfied. That was
hardly surprising; after all, his ministry had borne the bulk of the
responsibility for the Russian president´s visit, and the foreign
minister could finally put behind him the embarrassment of 17 months
ago, when a strike by workers in his ministry forced former Russian
President Dmitry Medvedev to cancel his visit here.

Following Lieberman was Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov,
wearing a sour face. That´s no surprise, either; Putin chose to make
Israel his first stop on his Middle East visit over Lavrov´s vehement
objections.

"Filthy Arabist," mumbled a member of the Russian-Israeli press when
Lavrov entered.

During his address, President Shimon Peres, as expected, praised the
Russian people and the Red Army for their role in saving the Jewish
people from obliteration by the Nazis. He even tried a few sentences
in Russian, which was amusing and seemed to please Putin. Peres,
naturally, managed to squeeze mentions of Iran and Syria into his
short speech.

Putin, a deft president in his third term, expressed his fondness for
the Jewish people and gratitude for the role Jewish soldiers played
in defeating the Nazis. But he chose to save the hot diplomatic
topics for lunch with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Not everyone was pleased with Putin´s visit, not just because of his
support for Syrian President Bashar Assad, but because of his strong-
arm tactics against the Russian opposition. Unlike the Israeli media,
the Russian websites made headlines out of a demonstration by some 50
protesters who tried unsuccessfully to interfere with the ceremony
and block the road in front of Putin´s entourage.

The afternoon was an entirely different story, with pageantry
replaced by pragmatic discussions between Putin, Netanyahu,
Lieberman, Defense Minister Ehud Barak and national security adviser
Yaakov Amidror. It was soon leaked that that it had been one of the
most positive, constructive Israeli conversations ever held with
Russia´s leader.